UK doctor's campaign for 'human touch' wins huge support

February 2, 2015

A terminally-ill British doctor's campaign encouraging healthcare workers to introduce themselves to their patients and make a human connection has gained hundreds of thousands of followers.

Fed up with being referred to as "Bed 7" while in hospital receiving treatment for cancer, Kate Granger said she had started a campaign with the Twitter hashtag #hellomynameis.

"I really hope my legacy will be putting compassionate practice right at the heart of healthcare delivery every single day," the 31-year-old told the BBC's Today programme on Monday.

"It is about making a human connection, beginning a therapeutic relationship and building trust," said Granger, who is due to start her latest round of chemotherapy for sarcoma, a rare type of cancer which grows in the body's connective tissue.

"There is evidence out there that it actually improves patient outcomes," she added.

British Prime Minister David Cameron offered his support with a tweet on Monday, praising Granger for leading a campaign for "compassionate care".

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has called the doctor's efforts "inspiring" and around 90 National Health Service organisations, representing some 400,000 medical sector workers, have endorsed it.

Granger was diagnosed with cancer during a holiday in the United States in 2011 and in her latest blog she said she feared that cancer would get the better of her this year.

A healthcare worker recently back from Sierra Leone was diagnosed with Ebola on Monday by doctors in Scotland's largest city, the first diagnosis of the deadly virus in Britain during the current outbreak.

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